The World's First Supersonic Private Jet Will Only Cost £48 Million

For the world's super wealthy CEOs, time is money. To minimise how long corporate leaders are away from the helm of their empires, start up Spike Aerospace wants to deliver them to their destinations in half the time of conventional planes by shuttling them around at Mach 1.6.

Developed by a team of ex-Gulfstream, Eclipse, and Airbus engineers, this proposed jet, dubbed the S-512, will be the first to fly at supersonic speeds—cruising at Mach 1.6 with a top speed of Mach 1.8. That's more than 50 percent faster that the current world's fastest business jet, the Mach .875 Gulfstream G650, as well as the upcoming Mach .935 Cessna Citation X, which is awaiting FAA approval early next year.

With a range of 4,600 miles, the 131 foot long plane will feature a spacious cabin designed to carry 18 passengers from Los Angeles to Tokyo—typically a 16 hour jaunt—in just 8 hours, which will certainly help with the jet lag. Details are still scarce on the project—including how it will get around the whole sonic boom issues—but the company hopes to begin delivering the luxury jet to customers by December of 2018. [Spike Aerospace via Gizmag]